by Katie Mcgreal

Created on: July 07, 2010

Ella put her head in her hands and tried to make the tears come, but they wouldn’t. The words kept ringing in her ears so she stuck her fingers in them to make it stop. She couldn’t believe it had come down to this, that Mark actually thought she didn’t love him. She did, with all her heart but that just wasn’t enough, it wasn’t enough of a reason to marry him. She couldn’t do it, she wasn’t going to let him give up anything, especially not because of her.

Replaying the scene again in her head she saw herself walking to the last stall in the stables and s pushing the door open warily. She saw Mark sprawled on the ground covered in straw having clearly just fallen over. There was an empty whiskey bottle beside him.

‘What are you doing?’ Ella demanded.

‘What’s it to you?’ he slurred.

She noticed that he was in the same clothes he had been wearing the day before and there was grey stubble on his chin.

‘Have you been here all night?’ she asked as he struggled to his feet.

‘Why do you care? You just lie to me. You can’t pretend that you care now,’

Ella stared at him, stung.

‘Don’t listen to her,’ he had said to Jack and Christine who, Ella had only realised then were right behind her, ‘She lies. She tells you that she loves you and then she won’t marry you, and she doesn’t have a reason. So she can’t love me. She’s a liar!’ she saw him stumbled forward, ‘Get outta my way, woman!’ he demanded of her.

She saw herself step to the side to let him go but not without getting her two cents in.

‘Well you certainly know the way to a woman’s heart. That is a sure-fire way to get me to marry you!’ she called after him.

She saw him leave the stables, banging the door shut as he went.

Burying her head further into her hands she groaned at the memory of the whole thing. Before they had started dating Mark and Ella had gotten on so well as friends and she didn’t want to lose that. That had been her main fear and now it was going to happen. He was so angry with her Ella would be surprised if he ever spoke to her again.

‘Ellie,’ she heard behind her.

Jumping in surprise she turned to see a clean-shaven, freshly showered Mark behind her,

‘I’m sorry about before,’ he said shamefaced, ‘I had no right.’

Ella looked up at him and shook her head.

‘I think you did. It wasn’t fair of me…they way I did it…I’m sorry too,’

‘But I shouldn’t guilt you into it. If you don’t want to—‘

‘But I do,’ Ella said suddenly, ‘I really really do but…’

‘What? What’s the problem?’

Ella looked up at the man she loved and wished with all her heart that things could be different. But they weren’t.

It took all her courage and strength to stand up, kiss him lightly on the cheek and to walk away. For the last time.

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